The Response of Several Citrus Genotypes to High-Salinity Irrigation Water

SOIL MANAGEMENT, FERTILIZATION, & IRRIGATION HORTSCIENCE 34(5):878–881. 1999. Most RANG trees died from attack by Phytophthora and are therefore not included in this report. This is not surprising, since in The Response of Several Citrus Israel RANG, more than any commercial rootstock, may become infected with foot rot, Genotypes to High-salinity Irrigation which is not detected in the nursery but becomes severe after transplanting (Levy et al., Water 1980). Location. One-year-old seedlings of the Y. Levy1 and J. Lifshitz different genotypes were planted in the field at the Ramat haNegev Desert Agro-Research Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Experiment Station, Mobile Post Center at 31°05´N and 34°41´E, elevation Negev2, 85-280 Israel ≈300 m, and mean annual rainfall (winter only) <100 mm. The soil is light loess (eolian sandy Y. De Malach and Y. David loam) with 5% to 8% clay and a pH of 8.0–8.4. Ramat haNegev Desert Agro-Research Center, Mobile Post Chalutza, Experimental design. Four salinities were Israel applied with DES (De Malach et al., 1996) at increasing levels along the rows. Salinity Additional index words. Cleopatra mandarin, Citrus reshni, Gou Tou Cheng, C. aurantium ranged from 2.0 to 6.4 dS·m–1 in four linear hybrid?, Rangpur, C. limonia, RT803, C. limonia x (C. sinensis x Poncirus trifoliata), sour steps. Each salinity level was applied to groups orange C. aurantium, SB812, C. sunki x Poncirus trifoliata, rootstock, chloride, sodium, of three plants in each row. With no buffer stress trees between the different salinity treatments, the first tree at a given salinity was partially Abstract. The effect of irrigation with saline water on several citrus genotypes was influenced by the salinity of the previous treat- –1 evaluated in a short-term field experiment. Salinity levels ranged from 2.0 to 6.4 dS·m . ment, while the last was affected by the subse- Comparatively salt-tolerant Citrus species and Citrus x Poncirus hybrids were tested for quent treatment, actually producing a linear their possible use as rootstocks for commercial citrus cultivars irrigated with brackish salinity gradient. The salinity gradients were water. All the tested genotypes survived the highest salinities. At all salinity levels, the best replicated in two blocks, with the salinity chloride excluder was Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reshni Hort. ex Tan.), and the worst was vectors (increase in salinity) in opposing di- sour orange (C. aurantium L.). Gou Tou Cheng (C. aurantium hybrid?) and Rangpur (C. rections. The genotypes were planted in paral- limonia Osb.) x Troyer citrange (C. sinensis L. x Poncirus trifoliata L.) RT803 were found lel rows, with a total of six plants for each to be promising genotypes for further evaluation as rootstocks tolerant to high salinities. salinity. The plants were drip irrigated and Rangpur was unsuitable because of foot rot. fertigated three times a week. The salinity regime was imposed from the day of planting Citrus is a salt-sensitive crop. Like many of potted seedlings (Levy and Shalhevet, 1990, and the data presented here were collected woody fruit crops, it can accumulate Cl– or 1991). For mature, fruit-bearing trees, there after two summers of salinization. Na+, or both, to toxic levels in plant tissues was a small advantage to CLEO over SO, Water. The local well water (highest salin- (Bernstein, 1980; Mass, 1996; Shalhevet and while rough lemon rootstock was very salt- ity) had an electrical conductivity (ECi) of 6.4 Levy, 1990). Oppenheimer (1937) was the sensitive. The difference in response between dS·m–1; ions (mol·m–3) were: 47.3 Cl–, 44.4 + ++ ++ -- first to report the effect of saline water on potted seedlings and field-grown trees may be Na , 4.5 Ca , 3.5 Mg , 4.5 SO4 , and 5.0 – citrus rootstocks. Mature orange trees on sour attributed to the distinction between pot-bound HCO3 . orange (SO) rootstock accumulated less Cl– in root systems, or sand culture (Zekri and Par- Measurements. Observations, measure- the scion leaves than did trees on Palestine sons, 1992), and the root systems of field- ments, and chemical analyses were made on sweet lime (C. limettioides Tan.). Irrigation grown trees. CLEO and RANG remain the individual trees. A running mean of three trees with saline water did not lead to the accumu- best salt-tolerant rootstocks available. Im- was used to analyze the plant response, and a lation of Na in the scion regardless of root- proved citrus tristeza virus (CTV)-tolerant similar running mean was calculated for the stock. Later studies, mainly on potted seed- rootstocks, with tolerance to salinity similar to ECi values. lings (Cooper and Gorton, 1952), ranked the or better than SO, are needed. Twenty spring-flush leaves were collected rate of Cl– uptake among the citrus genotypes. Salinity data on fruit and nut trees are from each tree at the end of September. Leaves Cleopatra mandarin (CLEO) and Rangpur scarce because of the long-term and complex were weighed within 3 h of collection, washed (RANG) accumulated Cl– at a “slow rate,” and nature of the research (Mass, 1996). The in dilute detergent (Nonidet; BDH Co., Poole, rough lemon (C. jambhiri Lush.) and SO at a method of double-emitter source (DES; De England), and dried in a ventilated oven at 65 “medium rate.” These results were later con- Malach et al., 1996) provides a new tool for °C. Pulverized leaf material (100 mg) was firmed in many other studies (Francois and achieving a salinity gradient, and can be used shaken for >4 h in 5 mL of water; Cl– was Clark, 1980; Zekri and Parsons, 1992). The to study the response of different genotypes to determined with a chloride meter, and total Na response of field-grown trees differs from that salinity under orchard conditions. In this study, and K with a flame photometer. we compared new, apparently CTV- and sa- Thresholds and slopes of the effect of salinity-tolerant genotypes for their possible use Received for publication 16 July 1998. Accepted for linity on growth were calculated by nonlinear publication 27 Jan. 1999. Contribution No 204/98 as rootstocks in citrus orchards irrigated with analysis (PROC NLIN; SAS Inst., 1985) from the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), brackish water. Institute of Horticulture, Bet Dagan, Israel. We Results and Discussion thank Dr. A. Genizi of the Dept. of Statistics, ARO, Materials and Methods for helpful discussions and suggestions; and our Seedlings of all genotypes survived the colleagues Drs. J. Shachak, A. Shaked, and J. Plant material. The genotypes that were highest salinity level with no apparent toxicity Shalhevet for helpful comments. We are grateful to studied in this work were: CLEO; Gou Tou symptoms such as leaf-burn, chlorosis, or de- M. Aaron for his assistance with this work.The cost Cheng (GT); RANG; SO; Rangpur x Troyer foliation. Growth of all genotypes was re- of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the (RT803), originally named C-54-64-32; Sunki payment of page charges. Under postal regulations, duced at a similar rate (slope) as salinity in- – this paper therefore must be hereby marked adver- x Benecke (SB812), originally named C-65- creased regardless of their Cl or Na uptake tisement solely to indicate this fact. 165; and, later, HRS812. Both crosses were (Fig. 1). Similar results were reported earlier 1To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E. made by J. Furr in Indio, Calif. (Furr and (Garcia-Legaz et al., 1993; Syvertsen et al., mail address: [email protected] Ream, 1969). 1993; Zekri and Parson, 1989, 1990). How- 878 HORTSCIENCE, VOL. 34(5), AUGUST 1999 ever, the thresholds were not the same for all genotypes. SO had the lowest threshold and RT803 and SB812 the highest. The regression was poor in GT, because of the large variabil- ity typical for this genotype. Growth can be hampered by low osmotic potential of the soil solution, as with most plants, in addition to the effect of specific ion toxicity (Maas, 1993). The most Cl–-tolerant genotypes were CLEO and GT (Fig. 2). Most of the new genotypes proved better than SO in terms of leaf Cl– accumulation and growth. These genotypes are candidates to replace SO as a rootstock, but should be tested thoroughly for their disease tolerance and effects on yields, fruit quality, and longevity. The concentrations of Cl– in leaves of nongrafted genotypes were relatively low (<6 g·kg–1 dry weight), in comparison with levels found in mature grafted citrus trees (Levy and Shalhevet, 1990, 1991; Shalhevet and Levy, 1990). GT, RT803, and CLEO did not accumulate much Cl–. The genotype that accumulated most Cl– was SO, which, in a mature orchard, proved relatively tolerant to salinity (Levy et al., 1992). The level at which Cl– accumulation in the leaves becomes toxic is not clear. Cole (1985) reported that concentrations >2.5 g·kg–1 dry weight in ‘Valencia’ orange on rough lemon reduced yield. Chapman (1968) suggested 7.5 Fig. 1. The effect of irrigation water salinity (ECi) on tree height of seedlings of five Citrus genotypes. Lines –1 – were calculated by nonlinear (NLIN) procedure. GT lines did not converge, height was reduced from g·kg Cl as the maximum permissible level. 2.3 m at a threshold of 3.2 dS·m–1 at a rate (slope) of –2.71% per dS·m–1. CLEO height was reduced from Furr and Ream (1969), however, reported no 2.6 ± 0.02 m at a threshold of 4.34 ± 0.32 dS·m–1, slope = –2.98 ± 0.73% per dS·m–1.

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